Originally a small hamlet to the north of the township of Warrington, centred on Orford Green, "Orford" can now refer to a large area between the town centre and the M62 motorway.
Its most distinctive building, Orford Hall, was demolished in the 1930s, after the grounds were given to the town for a park. Community facilities in Orford Park are to be redeveloped, but there is controversy over a proposal to build a bypass road across the most attractive part of the park.
William Beamont, a Victorian solicitor and local philanthropist, lived in Orford Hall. He founded Warrington's municipal library, the first rate-aided library in the UK, in 1848. His diaries are a valuable source of social history.